DiCaprio foundation would return gifts if from Malaysian fund in probe

US actor Leonardo DiCaprio looks on prior to speaking
on stage during the Paris premiere of the documentary film
"Before the Flood" in ParisThomson
Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio's charitable
foundation would return gifts or donations made to him or his
ventures if they were found to have come from Malaysian wealth
fund 1MDB, which is being investigated on money laundering
allegations, his representatives said on Tuesday.

In his first comment on the multinational probe into the fund,
DiCaprio said he was cooperating with U.S. authorities to
determine if money had come from questionable sources, according
to the statement.

In July a Hollywood production company was accused in a U.S.
civil lawsuit of using $100 million that prosecutors said had
been diverted from the 1MDB fund to finance DiCaprio's 2013 film
"The Wolf of Wall Street," in which he starred.

In a statement on Tuesday, DiCaprio's representatives said he had
first learned of the probe through press reports in July.

"He immediately had his representatives reach out to the
Department of Justice to determine whether he or his foundation,
the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF), ever received any gifts
or charitable donations directly or indirectly related to these
parties, and if so, to return those gifts or donations as soon as
possible," the statement said.

"All contact was initiated by Mr. DiCaprio and LDF," it said.

The production company, Red Granite Pictures, has said that to
its knowledge none of the money it received was illegitimate and
that it had done nothing wrong.

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, set up in 1998, supports a
range of environmental projects.

In August, the Hollywood Reporter published a story alleging that
the actor's foundation had benefited to the tune of some $2
million from cash and in-kind donations made by a Malaysian
financier, who was named in the U.S. lawsuit as being involved in
the creation of the 1MDB fund.

The actor, who won an Oscar in 2016 for his role in "The
Revenant," is also a United Nations climate change "messenger of
peace," but he has come under pressure from some environmental
activists to step down from the role following the 1MDB scandal.

DiCaprio's representatives said in Tuesday's statement that he
had refrained from speaking about the matter until now "out of
respect for (the) ongoing investigation, which has touched many
charities, hospitals and individuals, who may have been unwitting
recipients of funds now in question."

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)

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